The Asking Price - Yin or Yang
by Kolorful Kyandii
Summary: Pt 1- Take Mai and her tendency to attract trouble, the ghost of a Noah, Innocence, Team Tiedoll, and an unstable Ark passage, then throw in some Deus Ex Machina, and what do you get? (Slow start, some OOCness. I own nothing. Hiatus because life.)
1. The Office

Mai Taniyama was bored.

Scratch that, she was **_BORED._**

It had been a month since their last case. Even a little one that all they had to do was say 'go to the light!' and bang, it was done. A MONTH.

And for the first time in her life, Mai missed High School. At least then she'd have something to DO. But no, she had finished that stage of her life this past spring. Her first summer as a free woman. She was so excited!

…. _was_ being the key word.

And Naru wouldn't let her leave, or Lin either for that matter, no matter mow much or little work they had. She had no paperwork to do whatsoever, for the past week and a half, except one or two documents per day. She had even resorted to asking Lin to give her some of his workload… only to discover that _all_ the typing he'd been doing for the past eleven days was just him being even more bored than she was, resorting to researching random topics that held any sort of interest whatsoever to him.

Finally, they had decided that teaching her more English would be amazing, because at least it might be slightly more entertaining than counting ceiling tiles (There were 142.75 in the main lobby, 56 in Lin's office, 42 in the kitchen and 17.25 in the hall).

And then looking for patterns in the dots within the tiles.

The connect-the-dots games they competed in with some felt-tip markers had been fun enough for a couple days, though, especially when Naru walked out of his office and realized his employees were so bored they'd begun drawing basic shapes on the ceiling. Keep in mind that one of those employees is the ever-silent and typing Koujo Lin.

So, for four days running now, they had been focusing on extending her education.

It was amazing the amount of work you could get done when a perviously boring subject became exciting, especially when with a good teacher. She had gotten nearly three months worth of English, school amounts, memorized.

They had already done six hours of English that day, and decided to spend the rest of the day trying to fold old paperwork into origami. Neither of them knew much, so some pretty crazy shapes had been made. And many fails had also been made.

They switched from origami to paperclip bingo - with a twist. In in order to choose the numbers, they took turns throwing pencils at some papers with numbers scribbled on them tacked to the wall, from all the way down the hall, which was as far as they could get. Mai had found out Lin had epic pencil-throwing skills, and hit his target number every time. Her own aim had gotten much better since they made up the game.

The door to the office opened.

Lin and Mai, standing only a few yards away, looked up in shock. The small family standing there stared at them.

Mai threw her pencil, and then threw her arms up in a victory pose. "Yes! I hit B9! I finally won a game!" She squealed. Lin frowned, realizing his perfect streak had just broken.

"Er - are we interrupting?" The man asked timidly.

"No, actually, I'm going to beg you to come in. The boss hasn't let us accept a case in quite a while, see, so we kinda ran out of paperwork to do like two weeks ago, and got creative. In that entire time, I hadn't won a single game against him, so thank you! You must be my good luck charms!" She rambled.

"O-oh! Um… you're welcome!" The woman responded, looking amused at her enthusiasm.

Mai walked to the door to the kitchen, glancing behind her to ask if anyone else wanted tea.

"Yes, please!" The woman and daughter chorused, while the man and older daughter denied the request.

"I'll take some, and it's 2:16, so Naru will be calling for his within twenty to sixty seconds." Lin warned her.

"Kaaaay!" Mai called happily, and walked into the kitchen. Lin turned to the clients, clicking open his computer as he showed them to sit down, and took a seat himself.

"Welcome to Shibuya Psychic Research. How can we-"

An office door in the hall opened, and Naru stuck his head out. "Mai, Tea!" He demanded loudly, then the door clicked back shut.

Muttering darkly, Mai walked out of the kitchen, grabbing a notepad and pen from the island table as she walked back over.

"Tea's on, it'll be about seven to ten minutes." She said sweetly, and clicked the pen.

"So." Lin re-started. "Welcome to Shibuya Psychic Research. What can we do for you today?"


	2. The Interview

The clients exchanged glances, eyes wandering over the drawn-on ceiling and recently made origami on Mai's desk. It surely was not what they were expecting from a ghost hunting agency, it seemed.

"We're being haunted." The woman whispered, and winced. "I know you probably don't believe us, but-"

"We do." Mai interrupted kindly, before they could get into the typical 'we do this for a living, trust us' speech. "Believe me, we have plenty of proof ghosts exist. If you say you're haunted, we believe you."

Lin nodded in agreement, then glanced at the two daughters - one early teenage, one about seven. "Could be PK." He mused.

"PK?" The man questioned, obviously wondering if he should be wary of the way Lin glanced at his daughters.

"Psychokinesis. Children and teens have an affinity for it, especially girls. Fifty percent of all 'haunting' cases are actually the result of humans." Mai explained.

Both parents looked to the girls, who looked horrified. Tears gathered in the younger one's eyes. "However, again, that is only half the time. We don't know the details." Mai ascertained quickly. Lin nodded reassuringly.

"It started when we moved into the new house." The man began explaining. "Two months ago. It was a sudden onslaught, vicious attacks, and…" The teenage daughter whimpered, and the man hugged her. She was trembling. "It… raped Maeko." He choked out. Lin and Mai exchanged a glance, sobering immediately, and Lin stood to go get Naru. The people watched, confused. Then Mai blinked and looked up.

"Lin, left, right, duck, left."

He didn't question it, proceeding with the movements Mai had instructed as sharp pencils stuck themselves in the wall like darts with the speed of bullets. The family stared blankly, looking back and forth between Mai and Lin trying to understand what had just happened so casually. Mai wondered just how their first impression of SPR would end up.

"Quit playing pencil darts on my walls!" Naru yelled from his office doorway. Lin simply beckoned to him, and walked back into the Lobby. Probably worried at Lin's unusually serious - even for him - expression, Naru followed, pausing to stare at the people gathered on the couch upon reaching the room.

"Sorry, we're not taking cases-"

"Oliver. We're taking this one." Lin said calmly, re-claiming his seat.

Naru's gaze switched to him in astonishment, and then he walked over and leaned on the table. "What did you say that could have possibly convinced my assistants so determinedly?" He asked.

"Well…" The family hesitated. Naru frowned, and turned to walk away.

"Naru! If you don't take the case, I'm quitting and helping them on my own time." Mai threatened vehemently. At another time, she would have burst out laughing at his expression of sheer shock. Naru turned back to face the guests with a drawn out sigh, glaring deeply at Lin when he didn't say anything to convince Mai otherwise.

"Start at the beginning, Hirokiri-san." Mai suggested softly.

The man took a deep breath, then paused. "Wait - we never introduced ourselves, how did you…"

"Psychic. I know stuff." Mai said idly, scribbling something down on her notepad. The woman scoffed.

"Like what?" The younger girl asked curiously.

"Just stuff. Nothing useful usually. Like that Naru had cinnamon toast for breakfast."

"Hey." Naru growled warningly. "Don't look at my life."

"A-anyway… it began the week after we moved into our new house, a small one by a lake, forested area. The previous owners, a elderly couple whom had owned it for ten years, told us when we asked that they hadn't noticed anything strange about it. But from the first moment we got there, we noticed windows open that had been locked, and sometimes we would feel like we were being watched. Most often, it was that we heard someone playing the piano in the living room. Maeko plays, but we had never heard the song before. When we asked her about it, she said it wasn't her. We just thought she was practicing or maybe writing her own song to surprise us on her birthday. It's a _beautiful_ song. Many times, we would glimpse a figure out of the corner of our eyes. "

"Please describe it." Lin requested.

"Kind of a murky dark thing." The youngest girl described.

Mai smiled at her. "How tall was it, Yumi-Chan? And was it like a purple, or mostly black?"

The family paused in surprise for a moment, except the youngest. "It was like momma, and like my favorite color, indigo!" She chirped. "But a tiny bit darker than the exact color I like."

"How tall are you?" Lin asked the mother. "Ah - five foot five." The mother answered.

The teakettle whistled, and everyone fell silent as Mai went into the other room and brought back the tray, serving it up as she continued with the interrogation. "Alright. When did it start to escalate?"

"About month after. On Maeko's thirteenth birthday. The moment she blew out her candles… oh god, everything went insane! Everything was shaking, doors were banging, we thought it was an earthquake! We ran outside… and there was nothing. But the moment one of us would step foot in the house, it would start again! We stayed at a hotel that night, and hired a priest to cleanse the house. After that, it settled down… we thought it was gone, though Yumi said she still saw the dark person from the corner of her eye sometimes."

"Only when I wasn't trying to. If I tried to see it, it wasn't there." Yumi supplied.

"We thought she was imagining it, because of the trauma from before… but she wasn't."

Maeko shuddered, swallowing hard. "I-I sometimes I would find my bedroom door in a different position than I left it, but I thought I was just being paranoid… then… I woke up in the night one night, a-and…" Tears filled her eyes. "And there were these… eyes… like glowing, just right there in front of my face, staring at me, and oh god it was so scary."


	3. The Case

Her mother quickly drew Maeko into her arms. Mai shuddered. "Ugh. Had that happen to me once, only worse because I could feel his god-awful breath." She murmured, then glanced at Maeko and tried to calm her.

"Maeko-Chan. Calm down. You aren't at home right now. There are no souls in this office besides our own, I can promise you that. Your house is a long way away, and the sun is bright out today. You have nothing to fear now." Mai soothed, reaching forward and nudging the girl to take a sip of her tea.

Maeko did so, calming, but looked unconvinced as she glanced at the window.

"We heard her screaming, and ran to her." Her father continued for his daughter. "We didn't see anything, but she kept screaming and backing away from someone like they were advancing towards her. I flicked on the lights and the thing, whatever it was, left."

"It happened every night." Maeko whispered. "I woke up and that thing was there. Until one night, it would just watch. But that time…"

"How long after it started haunting you was that night?" Lin asked.

"Um… about two weeks after. It was going towards me, just like the first night, but this time I stood up to it, told it to go away, a-and it started choking me. Yumi walked in and screamed, and it left. Things went back to how they were before the priest came, even worse. Doors would bang shut as we were walking through them. Yumi got a concussion from one, twice. Windows would be wide open, even though we got a special security system that you have to type in a code to open anything. We all saw the ghost. It was more clear now when we did, not as fuzzy. We all started sleeping in momma and dad's room, because after buying the house we didn't have enough money to stay at a hotel again. A-and then, then…" Maeko choked, unable to go on.

"The thing never approached Maeko during the day, never once. But one day, when she was in class, it appeared right in front of her again, just like it did at night. She fainted, and they had to take her to the nurse. After that, it started attacking us, too." The mother continued for her, and gestured to the group. "It would push us out of bed, tug our hair, trip us, tried to choke Maeko again. She kept seeing it during the day, staring at her from right next to her. It had never attacked her while she wasn't at home, so she went to stay at a friend's house, a-and-it-it got angry, and… raped her, left scratches all over her." The mother snarled the last bit, tugging her now crying daughters into her arms.

"It… it was more like I was burning alive than rape… like it was trying to force itself into my my body to possess me or something, and was just using what ways it could…" Maeko gasped out the detail, shuddering. "It hurt… so bad…"

"What did you do after that?" Naru asked quietly.

"We all stayed with her in the hospital. We tried to tell them what happened, but no one would believe us! It followed us there, though, all of us still saw it, but it would disappear as soon as anyone else entered the room. Everyone there thought we were crazy!" The mother hissed, outraged.

"We don't." Lin assured simply. The girls stopped crying, and looked at him.

"It follows you, Maeko-Chan?" Mai asked. Maeko nodded, shuddering as she glanced around.

"You're safe here. I have barriers up." Lin said, not looking up from what he was typing.

The mother's brows furrowed. "Look. I know now that spirits exist. But those are souls. Humans having superpowers, that sort of thing, I'm afraid I don't believe in those things. Please don't give my daughter fake reassurances like that!" She demanded.

All three researchers stared at her.

"You think we'd lie to her like that? Say she wasn't in danger when she was?" Naru intoned in an almost threatening way.

"I guess so." The mother frowned at him.

All three simply shook their heads.

"I believe it." Maeko said determinedly. "You believe us, so why shouldn't we believe you?"

"Can't deny that logic." The father said, letting a faint smile cross his face as the mood lightened a bit. The mother frowned at him.

"Don't worry, Maeko-Chan, we're used to skeptics. In fact, they can be quite refreshing sometimes." Mai assured cheerfully. "Better than people who bounce around at our heels asking endless questions when we're trying to work, or bring in fake cases."

"We heard from someone about you people, so we came here straight from the hospital." The father finished the story.

Naru sighed, giving his assistants an annoyed look. "When can we set up?" He asked them.

"Set up?"

"For cases like this one, we need to begin with careful observation. Figure out the who, where, and whys. It can last anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. Usually, there is a time of a day or few when all activity ceases, upon our entrance as strangers. But judging from what you said about the ghost hiding from the nurses, I'd say this will be a longer case, but not more than three weeks."

"We'll need preferably three rooms, though we can get by with two or one large one. One with lots of outlets for the home base, and another one for the team to sleep in that's next to the base. Though, like I said, we can survive with sleeping in the base if the room is large enough."

They stared, eyes wide in surprise. "Oh. We didn't know all that… I think we can manage it, though. The house is a large one, lots of rooms we have no use for yet. It's actually a very small school that fell into disuse when a large one opened up nearby."

"Good. When do you want us to set up?"

"As soon as possible." The Father said urgently. "It's in the woods by Ginsakura Lake, about 40 miles from Tokyo, past Sakura Golf Course, on the edge of the nature preserve."

"Then how about we set up tomorrow?"

"Fine, thats fine." The mother nodded her head quickly.


	4. The Talks

"Lin, get what we need. Mai, call in John, Houshi, Matsuzaki, and Hara." Naru ordered.

"What about Yasu?"

"We don't need him for this one. Let him focus on his midterms."

"Right."

The team split, Lin taking the paperwork out of the filing cabinet and Mai sitting herself down at her desk and picking up the phone.

"You can stay here for the night if you wish." Naru volunteered to them. Lin and Mai both stared at him. Naru glanced at Lin. "Make sure to keep your barriers strong, I have a feeling they're going to be pressed tonight."

Lin simply arched one brow as if to say it was obvious he was going so anyway. Naru walked into his office and shut the door. After making the calls and giving the others the story, Mai put on another pot of tea and set out some blankets that they had in the office for when one of them decided to stay late and sleep there. It was only four, however.

Mai walked by Lin with the fresh tea as Lin was finishing the paperwork with the parents. "Never thought I'd see the day I celebrate paperwork." She informed in passing, and he nodded agreement.

Mai glanced at the two girls. "I'll warn you now - the office is waaaaaaaaay boring, but you won't wake with disembodied eyeballs hanging in front of your face, I can promise that much."

The two girls smiled happily.

"Ugh." Lin shuddered. "You had to say it. Thanks Mai, but I still have nightmares from that one. Disembodied eyeballs, indeed."

"Hey." Mai growled. "For god's sake, it was _ME_ that it was hanging in front of, not you."

"And yet you aren't the one that has nightmares about it."

"Yeah, I only had to re-experience having my throat slit from the ghost's memories."

"You aren't the one that had to break down a freaking steel door and dislocate your shoulder. Real pain wins, because it doesn't leave when you wake up."

"You didn't have to see a tub full of human blood with a demon crawling out of it, and GOD it's _BREATH_. Not brushing your teeth and drinking blood for how-many-hundred years did wonders for his dental health, ya know."

"Yes, well, I-"

"CHILDREN, _CHILDREN!_ Do your goddamned paperwork!" Naru criticized, highly annoyed. "I'm not sure which was worse, when you refused to speak to each other or now that you do."

After finishing the beginning-stage paperwork, it was seven, and work ended in an hour. It had gotten dark out, and the family stared nervously at the windows. Naru had disappeared into his black hole of an office again.

"The barrier covers the entire building, so you can wander the halls if you want. Just don't go into Naru's office." Mai cautioned.

"How old are you?" Maeko asked bluntly.

"Seventeen. How old are you?" Mai shot back.

"You seem older, which the way you act. You already have a job and everything?"

"Yep, I've worked here since I was in middle school actually. See, when I sleep, my dreams aren't normal - I used to only be able to sense the ghosts, but my abilities got stronger as I used them. Now when I sleep, I can see the events of the past, how the ghosts died - who they were. Sometimes I can even see the future, and I started to be able to do other things too after that. I trained them a bunch so now I can even do some stuff when I'm awake. It's very useful for cases, so Naru hired me."

"I'm seven." The other little girl put in. "Why do you call him Naru?"

"Well, Yumi-Chan, that guy… he's the worst narcissist I've ever met." Mai scowled. "So I nicknamed him that, and now everybody else calls him that, too. What about you? Got a job? A booooyfriend?" She addressed Maeko.

"No!" Maeko denied, blushing. "I used to volunteer as a foster parent for kittens, though."

"Really?! Kittens?! Awwwww!" Mai squealed, and Maeko joined in, realizing a kindred spirit in Mai.

After that, the two girls sat there talking over each other for nearly half an hour, Yumi joining in enthusiastically.

"Mai." Lin's voice called, flicking his head at the equipment closet. Mai nodded, and stood.

"Well, I have to go help Lin. Later." She waved slightly, and turned away, taking two night-vision cameras and walking to the boxes Lin had set out on the island table to begin packing them, hearing the Hirokiri family, minus Yumi, talking agitatedly.

Ten minutes passed, the voices form the family raising - Maeko was defending them, the mother was condemning them, and the father was trying to get them to stop without choosing the side. She pondered briefly on the fact it was usually men who didn't believe, not women. What a weird family... though she was hardly one to talk.

"Mai, we need two more infrareds, and a few more lengths of cable." Lin interrupted her thoughts.

"Right." She saluted smartly, and marched over to the walk-in closet and grabbed six lengths of cable, which was quite a lot seeing as a single was was long enough to go for a whole hallway.

Walking back, both Lin and her suddenly froze. The heavy cables hit the ground, startling the family, including Yumi, to pay attention to them. It was loud enough to make it to Naru, who walked out of his office to see what was going on. Upon seeing their rigid posture, his gaze sharpened.

"What is it?"

Lin broke first, turning back to his work.

"The spirit's trying to break the barrier and get inside." Mai explained, looking sick. "That thing's aura is completely screwy!"

"What!" Maeko shrieked, leaping to her feet. Mai jumped and spun to look at the shaking girl.

"Calm down, it can't even make a scratch." She assured, then made a face.

"Screwy how?" Naru demanded.

"Um… not smooth, like other spirits. Choppy, like static, and it's not just a dark or light, but kinda both. So it's not entirely evil, at least not on the Urado level, but it's definitely not something to mess around with either. It feels… extremely powerful." She explained as she picked up the cables and dropped them into a box.

"Mai, it's eight." Lin called to her. She looked at the clock as she set the box down in the pile of materials for tomorrow.

"Thanks Lin. See ya tomorrow everyone!" She called cheerfully.

"Goodnight, Mai."

"Make sure to be _on time."_ Naru ordered.

"Yeah, yeah." She waved him off, shutting the door behind her and heading for the bus stop.


	5. The House

Mai arrived at the same time as always, thanks to the bus - ten minutes late.

"Mai, t-"

She handed him a thermos, having made some at home, and then handed the other she was carrying to Lin before slipping her own out of her bag and taking a sip. Naru blinked, then shook his head and continued loading the van.

"Who's meeting us there?"

"Only John, the Monk and Ayako will be there day after tomorrow, and Masako in four days. She's at a shoot right now."

Naru growled faintly, then sighed.

"What?" Mai asked curiously.

"If their arrivals are so strung out, the spirit might hide longer than it would have." He explained.

"Yeah, I thought of that too."

He arched one brow at me, seeming skeptical, and picked up another TV screen to carry outside. Mai followed suit, handing it off to Lin when they reached the van, who was fitting the equipment into the back like a giant puzzle.

They spent the rest of the time packing in silence, focusing on the task at hand.

With the last pieces, after Naru handed his off, he simply turned to walk over to the passenger seat, while Mai made sure to smile as she handed off the last camera, shooting at glare at Naru's back for his inevitable rudeness. She started ranting as she climbed in and buckled her seat belt.

:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:

"Good morning, Mr. Naru, how…." , whom had walked outside to greet them, trailed off. His smile faded at the dark glare directed at him, and he cleared his throat nervously. "S-sorry, Kazuya, I, um-" He stuttered, thinking he had done something. He, after all, did not know anything about the protocols and routines the SPR members so obviously followed - and he seemed quite opened minded about things. was a good person, for sure.

"Hirokiri-San. It's not you, don't take any crap from him, okay?" Mai said, eyes softening. gave Naru a sad look, and nodded to Mai, looking relieved. Naru ignored them both and simply grabbed a box, heading inside.

Lin simply sighed, picking up his own box and apologizing for whatever Naru said when he had barged into the client's house. They simply gave him relieved smiles, saying they didn't mind, then approached the van.

"Can we help you with your things there?" asked politely, motioning at the van.

"No, thank you, Naru doesn't like non-teammembers handling the equipment." Mai explained, rolling her eyes, and loaded up with some cable lengths and a camera from the pile. "Speaking of, I should get to work, he's going to yell at me for standing around."

She passed Naru, heading in the opposite direction, on the doorstep. Naru sent them both reproving frowns as he passed.

The moment she entered the house, every survival sense she had went haywire, and her head lashed around, searching. And for some reason, she had an odd urge to stick a knife into something that wasn't human, animal, or inanimate object. Except maybe that lamp over there, it was the ugliest thing she had ever seen - this coming from a person who directly confronted Urado. There was nothing there, though, so for now she pushed it to the back of her mind, instead focusing on getting base set up as quickly possible. The suddenly murderous annoyance she would take back out to examine later.

"Naru." She caught his sleeve in passing. "Be careful, and tell Lin to be too. Something is not right here!"

Naru scowled and tugged his sleeve away, but nodded and continued walking. Mai rolled her eyes. "Jerk." She muttered.

Done at last, Mai flung herself down on the couch in the provided equipment room. The cameras, wires, and monitors were all set up and rolling, the Hirokiri family watching in interest. Two head peered curiously into the base room, but they had already been warned that they were not allowed inside.

The world faded into black.


	6. The Dream

Both Naru and Lin nearly levitated when Mai suddenly shot straight up off the couch and did an extremely odd sideways crab walk halfway across the room, then froze, and looked at them.

Blink. "Oh. Hi."

"Welcome to the world of the living. What did you see?" Naru replied sarcastically.

Lin leaned over to pick up his laptop, and quickly opened it.

"So. The dream." Naru cued her to begin… and waited.

And waited.

"Yes. I saw." She whispered.

And _waited._

"And? What did you see dream?" He asked in annoyance.

"Well… Um. At first it was normal, sort of, if you can call that normal… then… it got weird. See, um…" She flushed.

"What happened?"

Mai's expression darkened, and she unfroze from the strange yoga type position to sit meditation style. "I was in my subconscious."

"Your subconscious?"

"That place with all the little lights, where I usually see Gene before he shows me things."

"I thought you said before that's the Astral Plane?" Lin inquired.

"Yes, it is, my own personal one. A tiny, secluded piece of the whole of what you call the Astral Plane. Everyone has one, because the Astral Plane is built by the subconscious as a whole."

"I see." Lin said quickly, typing even faster than his normally hyper-speed pace. Mai knew some really weird things sometimes, things normal humans wouldn't know, and he always did his best to record her little 'obvious fact' moments that included inhuman knowledge.

"Thats when it became more like one of my _normal_ psychic dreams. Somewhat. Before that was just… a dream."

She looked sick, Lin noted. _Could this case be like the Labyrinth case?_ The worrying thought sparked.

"The name on her binder that she was carrying was Imogen Namataki. She was just walking, and then this little boy comes up and offers her flowers, and says 'And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the Earth'. And then, he puked up a giant gun and tried to killed her."

Naru blinked. "Well that was an unexpected ending."

"The monsters are being controlled by the spirit of someone. I don't know who, but the monsters… they're humans, were human souls that he captured, and twisted."

"Monsters."

"The kid who barfed weapons was one of them, low-level. They could disguise themselves as human… by killing one and wearing their body as their own." Mai shuddered to the tip of her toes. "They would turn to a liquid-ish thing and crawl in though the openings in the body. Most apparently bypassed the whole killing thing unless they were doing it for pleasure from what I saw-" Mai cut off, hand pressed to her mouth, looking like she'd be sick.

"Openings?" Naru asked, dread curling in the pit of his stomach.

"The eyes, nose and mouth… any cuts on the body… or, for women, they would sometimes…" Mai whispered.

Both men paled considerably as they realized what she meant. The 'liquid' would force its way in… and probably drown the victim with the substance as they did… or force their way in through the eye sockets and go directly for the brain. If the person had a cut somewhere, the liquid would force it's way under their skin, and yet others would rape the women in the process.

"So much death and pain and so much blood, _so much_ blood, so much, and the _pain_… Imogen showed me. You can compare it to someone shoving a hot poker into both of your eye sockets." She shuddered so hard she was nearly convulsing. Naru stood, and walked over to the couch, sitting down beside her, and Lin did the same for the other side. Naru considered making some tea to calm their nerves, but just as quickly dismissed it on the insight whatever she ate or drank would probably just come back up.

"The monster, after shooting her, used the openings to try and… but she… it couldn't, she was too strong… she's the first one, ever, to have been able to resist. I saw her soul leave, to go find her little brother and say goodbye, but I still felt her presence. She became trapped somehow. Then I saw him, in the shadows, the man. Or rather, the body the spirit was possessing, the one who made the monsters… he looked right at me. He was so angry, and then went and kneeled down in front of her body, and picked her up to take her. At the same time Gene pulled me out and shoved me back into my body, and screamed for me to run. And I woke up."

"Are you sure this wasn't just some strange dream?"

"Quite. I don't really understand it, but thats what happened."


	7. The Number

Monitor watch was very interesting that night. Because Mai had slept the entire afternoon, she was landed with overnight watch. Her hand hurt from having to constantly pick up her pencil to record observations.

The readings were extreme, with temperature fluctuations in random rooms more than twice an hour, ranging from freezing to blazing. Except the bedrooms - the former classrooms. The screens and audio got staticy whenever a drop started, worse as it went along, until fading back to normal as the drop left a while more than ten minutes later. Constant whispering was caught from the mic in the bedroom the family shared, the family themselves sleeping on obliviously.

Between the regularly spaced temperature fluctuations, she went over the data from the interviews, plotting out a timeline of events. The dates weren't all precise, but close enough. As she worked, she noticed a trend. The events began on Meiko's 13th birthday. Naru had wondered about the significance of the day earlier, and had Lin research it. But they had thought it was the birthday itself… not the number.

The events escalated about every two weeks. Fourteen days… the temperature fluxes began or ended every 13 minutes. Nothing had happened on screen for ten minutes now.

Thirteen.

Mai flew out if her chair, gaze zooming in to the clock. 1:36. The 6 flicked to 7.

One plus three. Four. Four plus seven… eleven… Four plus nine? Thirteen. 1:39.

"NARU! LIN!" She yelled. Both men shot up.

"Thirteen! 1:39! It's been twelve nights since the last attack! It's going to attack Meiko in two minutes!" She explained hurriedly, and shot from the base, running full speed to the parent's bedroom, where the family slept.

Mai flung open the door and rushed in. The family all made startled sounds of fear before realizing it was her.

"Oh! Mai! I thought-" Meiko wailed in relief, drying her eyes, and shuddered.

"If I'm right, it'll be here any second." Mai explained, rushing over to the family and preparing to defend them. Naru and Lin took guarded stances.

The clock flicked from 1:38 to 1:39.

Instantly, the temperature began to plummet, the resulting mist gathering into a dark cloud that took the shape of a figure. Glowing golden eyes opened, focusing on Meiko. "There you are..." The harsh cracking whisper came. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to get through to you? I can only do it when the conditions are exactly right. Not to worry, young one, you'll remember soon. You'll remember, and then we can return to the Clan at last."

"Who are you." Naru demanded. It ignored him, stalking towards Mai, who had placed herself between it and Meiko.

As it walked, the face split in half, too wide to be a human smile, and said in a raspy, hoarse whisper, "You'll understand soon. You see, back then - God saw the wickedness of man was great in the Earth, and that every manifestation of the dreams of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the Earth, grieving him at his heart. And the Lord said, 'I will destroy man whom I have created form the face of the Earth. Both man, beast, the creeping things, and the fowl of the air. For it repenteth me that I have made them'."

"Genesis? We've got a demon spirit quoting Genesis?" Lin questioned. He, too, was completely ignored - only that girl seemed to be seen by it.

"And all flesh died that moved upon the Earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the Earth, and every man. All in whom was the breath of life, and of all that was in the dry land died."

"You fear God then? Good, then we just have to wait for John." Naru observed dryly.

"And the Clan of Noah, those that he gave the Ark, and only them remained alive. God showed his fourteen chosen the true darkness, showed them the true from of this world, and marked them with his cross. And the Lord gave them the means to live on to fulfill the duty given them, allowing them to take the form of those who were like them, and they lived."

Mai interrupted as it reached them. "Uh, hello? Living human here. There's plenty of them ya know. Also, I've got this friend. He's a priest. I think he would tell you, but that last bit is most definitely not in the Bible."

The creature stopped, right in front of them now, its eyes only inches from hers, and went quiet, for a moment as it seemed to notice ehr at last. "Exorcist." It hissed.

"Rin, Pyou, Tou, Sha, Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, Zen!"

The figure was slammed forcefully backwards, but instantly reappeared again where it had been before in the doorway, making its way again acorss the room toward Meiko in slow movements. The words now were spat out like poison, directed at Mai.

"But the Heart of the dry land did not submit, and did not forgive. You'll see soon, Meiko, you'll see what they did, you'll remember and accept, and you'll know. You let them protect you now but you'll remember! It betrayed it's creator, and selected its own chosen, and gave them power to rival the Clan of Noah! And the Lord let them remain, to see if they would see the evils of the land as well, or if they would force back the darkness and show that his creations were not all taint, and gave them the title of Exorcist. But the power of their Innocence, fueled by the will to protect and bring peace, betrayed his last hope, and became mixed with the darkness, and the Noah would never forgive the Exorcists for their sin, nor would the Innocence ever forgive the Noah, and the land went to war. Traitorous. Wretched scum given the power to oppose God's will! The Heart will pay for that."

Naru stepped in front of it as it neared again. "Who are you?" He demanded again. "Why do you want this girl, Meiko?"

Again, he was ignored, the figure going right through him. Naru convulsed with a shudder.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Mai demanded. "Were you the girl I saw? Imogen? Why thirteen?"

The figure paused.

"Exorcist, I was to be Maitora. I was destroyed before I could awaken. But I will return, and destroy your Innocences' Heart, Exorcist, for the Noah will _never_ forgive you!"

"Why are you here?"

"The Earl gave me pardon, for once I was to be an Apostle, taken before my time. I come to take a new form, so the Noah Memories will return to me."

"Why Meiko?" Naru again tried to ask.

"Damn. Out of time already. I will return for you, Exorcist, and for the vessel." The spirit threatened, breathy rasping voice a notch louder for the threat.

The clock clicked to 1:48.

It vanished.

"Well, that was… different." Mai summarized uneasily. "And on our first night, too."


	8. The Song

Mai was annoyed. All that happened, and both the video feed and audio hadn't recorded a single thing of the incident besides the humans bursting into the parents' bedroom at 2 am and flailing around like weirdoes for a while. The moment when the spirit had passed through Naru was particularly hilarious, because it looked more like some failed 60's twist dance move that he randomly decided to try out while walking towards the blank white-painted wall.

Monk, Ayako and John couldn't be there until the next day, and she truly couldn't wait to show them. They had transcribed down the words as best they could remember, but it wasn't exact.

Naru paced the base, muttering about intelligent demons and how creepy it was that it quoted the Bible, then went of on tangent, theorizing that the girl, Imogen, whose spirit was haunting some other random girl, had been part of a cult. And also whining about how it ignored him.

"Activity." Lin informed, and unplugged his headphones, pointing to one of the screens watching the living room. Gentle piano playing filled the room, but the keys on the monitor weren't moving at all. Mai closed her eyes. It was so _pretty_... somehow she knew the lyrics too, as if it should be personally important to her and sang to her many times... it almost felt like she was hearing her mother singing her to sleep as a child, with a tune that was used to comfort her quite often.

"_Soshite bouya wa nemuri ni tsuita…"_

"Mai… Mai! Wake up!" Naru yelled, shaking her.

"_Ikizuku hai no naka no honoo…_"

"MAI!"

Mai blinked, jumping. "Wh-what?"

The piano playing stopped.

"What just happened?"

"What do you mean, Naru?"

"You were singing along to the song the piano was playing."

"I was?"

"I searched the words she used. No results." Lin informed.

Naru sighed. "Ghost magnet."

Mai echoed his sigh. "Wonderful. Being the center of attention sucks." She groaned.

"Found her." Lin interrupted.

"Who?"

"Imogen Namataki. She went missing a week before her eighteenth birthday, three months ago, while on her way to a piano recital."

"Do you think she wrote that song?"

"I doubt it. There's a note here on her school records from her teacher that says she was horrible at composing. Her talents lay with being able to learn to play a song after only reading the notes and playing it though once or twice."

"Wow. I wish I had a talent like that."

"No, you're too normal for such an exceptional gift. Learning notes takes a kind of intelligence you don't have." Naru insulted in his usual blunt manner. Mai glared deeply at him.

"Whatever." She growled. "I bet someday, I'll be able to understand something you can't even comprehend, purely because you overthink crap."

"She's right about that." Lin agreed, not looking away from the screens. Naru gave him a glare that could freeze a pitcher of water. Mai grinned thankfully at him.

"Besides, there's one thing I know for a fact I can do that you can't, at the very least not _nearly_ as well."

Naru snorted. "Really?"

"Yep. Multitasking. I can do paperwork, play a game of chess online, make you tea, and answer phone calls all at once."

He gave her a bland look. "I can multitask, I _assure_ you."

Naru tensed when Mai smirked. "Really?" She asked sweetly.

"Of course."

"Because you know, it's a scientifically proven fact that females can multitask… but men can't do so nearly as well or naturally. It's how the female mind works."

Lin was so amused by the look on Naru's face that he laughed.

"Someday, Naru, someday." Mai reiterated, and then went to watch the monitors with Lin.

"Theres one problem with all this. Imogen lived in Germany."

"Germany?" Naru sounded shocked.

"Neither Imogen's family or the Hirokiri family has travelled to the same places, neither separately or at the same time. There was no connection at all. Imogen could never have met Meiko."

"What? Then how, why is this spirit here?"

The data from the day was the same as last night, rapid, timed temperature fluctuations and whispering, that they now identified as the verses the ghost had said before, along with "_King. I am King, the thirteenth. King will be returned to me. You cannot stop me, humans, or you, Exorcist._"


	9. The Seance

"Yo! Jou-Chan!" Monk crowed happily, snatching Mai up in a hug.

"Monk! Lemmie go!" Mai yelped, pushing him off.

"But Jouuuu-Chaaaaan!"

Mai glared, and then smirked. "Sooo, arriving in the same car with Ayako?" She teased suggestively. Monk flushed.

"I needed a ride from my show. It was on the way." He defended, while Ayako just huffed.

A second car pulled up, one Mai recognized as John's.

"Hey, John." Mai greeted with relief, glad the peacemaker of the group was here at last.

"Hello! My name is Yumi!" Yumi chirped, bowing as she introduced herself to John.

"And I'm Maeko!" The other girl copied her sister's movements.

"I'm John Brown. Pleased to meet you, Yumi-Chan, Maeko-Chan." He replied, returning the gesture.

"So. This case has been… interesting." Mai began, and then explained all that had happened on the way inside.

...

"Fake scriptures?" John gasped.

"Yeah. But the thing is, they sounded completely real, and we know the spirit believed in what it was saying."

John glanced around at the walls of the house warily. "I can't do anything against something that does not fear God."

"I think that the spirit believes she is one of God's chosen. So, maybe she doesn't really fear God, but she sure believes. Maybe it'll still work." Mai theorized.

"I sure hope so." John said fervently. "This one sounds nasty."

"Naru wants us to hold a seance immediately."

"Wonderful." Ayako growled. Monk tugged open the door to the base room, cheerfully announcing his arrival.

"Finally. Lets get started then." Naru ordered. Mai growled, rolling her eyes.

The base room was dark, and the SPR members all quieted, waiting. Lin lit the candles, handing off the talismans to Monk, who began chanting, while the others took seats along the wall. Lin did his whistle thingie, the haunting sound that almost seemed to come from another world. Mai smiled, relaxing. It was, to this day, still the prettiest sound she had ever heard.

The candle flickered, and the figure from last night appeared, still smiling,unnaturally wide. The smoke from the candle trailed lightly around it's shape, giving it form, and the golden eyes flashed, reflecting light that didn't exist there.

"What do you want with Meiko Hirokiri?" Lin demanded.

It laughed in its raspy voice, and then disappeared.

There was a moment of silence.

"Helpful." Naru commented dryly.

"The most dramatic seance ever." Ayako agreed.

Mai stood, stumbling once as she walked over to the piano.

"Crap, it possessed her, didn't it?" Monk groaned.

Mai opened the piano, sitting on the bench and gently sliding her hands across the keys, arching them as a pro would do, and began to play.

"That song definitely has some kind of meaning." Naru observed. "John."

Mai began to sing. "_Soshite bouya wa nemuri ni tsuita, Ikizuku hai no naka no honoo…_"

John walked over to her, and flung a bit of Holy Water on her, opening his Bible. Mai didn't react even to the flick of cold water.

"_Hitotsu… Futatsu to… Ukabu fukurami itoshii yokogao…_"

John began reciting the scriptures, one hand held up in prayer position, holding his rosary.

"_Daichi ni taruru ikusen no… Yume. Yumeeee…_"

John's voice began to sound desperate. The exorcism was having no effect - Mai just kept on singing. Then, a soon as he finished, suddenly a wave of white power shot outwards, slamming all of her teammates against the walls. A symbol appeared in front of her, two circles surrounding a golden crest, on the note stand, while the same pattern of strange symbols expanded outwards, acting as a barrier.

"MAI!" Several voices yelled.

"_Gin no hitomi no yuragu yori ni… Umare ocita, kagayaku omae, Ikuoku no toshitsuki ga… Ikutsu… Inori wo… Tsuchi e kaesshitemo…_"

Monk managed to unstick himself from the wall, chanting, a hand seal held out in front of him. He was making progress, but the barrier pulsed again, sending him once more flying into the wall.

"_Watashi wa Iniori tsuzekeru, douka konoko ni ai wo… Tsunaida te no kisu wo…_"

"MAI! WAKE UP!" Ayako wailed.

Lin started forcing himself forward as well, gritting his teeth and leaning into the force pushing against him, and whistled. The Shiki darted past him, flying at the barrier and making more progress than Monk did, before being thrown away. They returned to Lin, now acting as a shield to help them slowly drill their way towards her, as Mai began playing, singing that strange song.

"_Watashi wa inori, doula kono nI ai wo tsudaida the ni… kissu woooooooo!_" The possessed Mai drew out the last note in a way they knew signaled the end of the song. Everything happened all at once after that, moving too quickly for anyone to really comprehend.

Naru slammed Lin from behind with a bit of PK, tossing him forward as Mai hit the last note. The barrier disappeared, as Lin's hand closed tightly around Mai's wrist. But it wasn't over. As the last note was let go, a brilliant, shining white appeared over the piano, crashing downwards.

"What's-" Mai gasped, eyes wide. A dark figure in the corner laughed.

"Goodbye, Exorcist!" The spirit gloated.

The white light touched Mai, and she screamed as she was wrenched from Lin's grasp.

"MAI!" He yelled, as the light pulled her in. The sound of her voice faded and disappeared, taking the blinding white with it.

There was a long silence. "She's… gone…" Ayako whispered.

Lin's hand tightened into a fist. "I had her… Damn it…" He growled.

"We'll find her." Naru swore determinedly.


	10. The Find

Mai blinked awake with a gasp, and instantly turned on her side, coughing.

"Are you alright?" A voice asked in English. Mai looked up to see a man with wide eyes an pale skin, with fluffy light brown hair. A foreigner?

"N-Nani?" Mai choked.

"Japanese?" The man observed, startled, and then looked to someone over his shoulder. A boy with dark blue eyes and black hair pulled into a ponytail that reached his shoulders leaned over him, staring at her.

"Daijoubu?" He asked.

"H-Hai…" Mai looked around, the coughs quieting. She was in some kind of forest, on the shore of a lake. It was beautiful, but Mai was too busy getting over choking to really appreciate it. She looked down at herself to find her clothing sopping wet. Well, that explained why she was so cold. But why was everything suddenly so tall? And why were her clothes so big?

Mai blinked, staring at the lake she must have almost drowned in. The girl reflected back at her couldn't have been more than nine, and looked exactly like she did when she was little.

Mai swore in Japanese, and the boy next to her's eyes widened in surprise.

"O-namae wa nan desu ka?" The boy asked.

Mai clinked, focusing on him. "T-Taniyama M-M-Mai." She answered, shuddering with sudden cold. A coat settled around her shoulders, and she looked up to see another boy, a teenager, tossing one around her. He had light chocolate skin, and blue eyes, signaling his mixed heritage.

"Arigatou." She thanked quietly, clutching it to her as the shivering worsened.

The Japanese boy turned to his companions, saying something in quick English, and they began conversing in agitated tones among themselves.

"Sumimasen…" She asked, reaching out to touch the sleeve of the man with fluffy hair, the only adult. "Where… am… I?" She asked in halting English.

"England."

"NAAAANIIIIIII?"

**:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:**

With the dark haired boy, Kanda, acting as a grudging translator - the kid of about ten or eleven apparently knew several languages - so the flow of conversation was going smoothly. *

In addition to the three here, there was one more in their party, another child by the name of Daisya who looked to be about a year older than Kanda… or it could just be that Kanda kind of looked like a little girl… Apparently, the three kids were there with Tiedoll, their Master, having a training session on the shore when there was a flash of light and she suddenly fell out of it and into the lake. Kanda had forced Daysia to be the one to swim out and get her, and he had then left to sulkily re-apply the purple makeup stripes under his eyes.

She had been totally unconscious when Daysia towed her ashore.

The last thing she remembered was setting up for the case, though it was quickly coming back to her. She remembered setting up, and then the first night, so by the time she remembered the rest of SPR besides Masako arriving and Lin reaching to save her, she was calm enough to think rationally about it and not just scream bloody murder.

Tiedoll presented her with a glowing green thingy, saying it was the reason he had noticed she was nearby, and that it had chosen her, then had Marie explain at length about Akuma, Innocence, the Black Order, and that she would be taken in as Tiedoll's apprentice to learn to control it, or it would lash out randomly and hurt someone.

Mai took this in relatively well, surprising the team. She explained about her job, and how she was used to the supernatural, then what happened with the spirit of a Noah-to-be possessing her briefly as the result of a seance gone wrong, and that all that was the reason she wasn't freaking out about suddenly being pre double-digit and in another dimension, and then thanked them for saving her.

They, also leading strange lives, took things in fairly well.

And so, Mai began learning under the tutelage of Marshall Tiedoll.

:**~:~:~:~:~:~:~:**

*** (A/N - Japanese and Mandarin from his stay in the Asian Branch, English, French from Teidoll, a little Turkish from Daysia, and a little German as Marie is from Austria. Exorcists are world travelers, so of course they probably are required to know a whole bunch of varied languages. I've since done research into the most spoken languages, and they will be mentioned alter in the story. :)**


	11. The Team

:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:

Ages  
Mai - Just turned 7  
Kanda - Just turned 9  
Daysia - Just turned 11

:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:

"TANI!"

7-year-old Mai shrieked, and fell off her bed, which also happened to have no rails and be several yards in the air on a shaky train, so it wasn't hard to do.

Mai snatched Kanda by his ponytail and dragged him over to her. "WHAT!" She yelled in his ear.

"Get your ass up, next stop and we're there."

Mai groaned, and looked out the window at the countryside flashing past, the background sound of the train's metal wheels on metal track steady and very normal - nothing seemed amiss. "It's still dark!"

"Get up."

"As if." Mai snorted, and leaped nimbly back into her bed with one jump.

Water splashed over her face, and Mai squealed at the shock. "Get. Up." Kanda demanded once more, impatient.

"KanDAAAAAAAA!" Mai yelled, aggravated, and snatched the half-empty water bottle from his hands.

Kanda ran. Mai darted after him in the small compartment, yelling, unfazed and simply copying his movements when he launched himself at the wall and used the force of it to bound off the wall in an attempt to leap clear over her head.

"Oi!" Daysia yelled from the other compartment bed, and pulled his pillow over his head. "Could you please flirt more quietly?! I'm trying to sleep!"

Kanda and Mai came to a stop, locked eyes, looked to Daysia, and then back at each other again.

Kanda opened his backpack and took out another spare water bottle, and they attacked.

Daysia's scream rang though the compartment, and the door to the next car was flung open.

"What could my children possibly be doing in here?" Tiedoll inquired. "We don't want to wake the other people on the train, you three."

Mai and Daysia immediately pointed at Kanda.

"He threw water on me!"

"They were being loud and woke me up!"

"I'm not your son dammit!"

"If you want to spar, wait until we reach home." Tiedoll scolded. "You can work off the energy from being cooped up when we get there. Luckily for you, it seems we're at our stop."

The train, with a squeal of brakes, began to slow, preparing to stop at the station. The three adolescents broke into a flurry of movement, snatching and packing the few belongings not in their bags, and slipped into the formation they were used to as they quickly deboarded the train. As always, Tiedoll led, with Kanda to his right and Marie to his left, while Mai stuck to Kanda like glue, walking inside the triangle they made and occasionally putting something in to the conversation, while Daysia ran in circles around them, annoying Kanda and asking Tiedoll questions, and Marie told them what he could hear.

It had been a little over a year since she had been transported here, half of one since she had accepted she might never get to go back to her own dimension and see her 'family' there. She wondered if, when she aged to the point she had disappeared at, she would be sent back. The thought hurt. Teidoll, Daysia, Kanda, and Marie had become family to her too. Her bond with them was different from her friends back home. They were her comrades, and she trusted them explicitly, which was something she could not say of the greedy world back at her old home.

HQ was home now, though she often missed the technology and friends of her past. When faced with the possibility of never seeing them again, she had become depressed, tried to shut out her mentor and the other apprentices. It hadn't worked. While simultaneously teaching her English among the basics of other languages, Kanda had forced her out of her depression by pissing her off repeatedly, and made her to open her heart to them. His persistence had paid off, and now the thought of losing a single one of them to the war hurt more than being torn from the side or her friends in the dimension she was born to. Though, the English sometimes got annoying, since her name was so weird in it - Kanda could empathize - so everyone just called her Tani.

The gatekeeper opened the door without question upon recognizing them, where Reever, a recently promoted scientist friend of hers, waved a cheerful hello alongside Denlin.

"Yo, Tani!" Denlin waved.

"Whadya want, gramps?" Mai asked.

"Such insolence! Kids these days!" Denlin sniffed.

"Yeah, whatever, Denny."

Denlin glared, and snatched her head, scrubbing her skull in punishment.

"Ow! Leggo!" Mai complained.

Kanda grabbed her wrist and continued walking, dragging her along behind him. "Dumbass. We have to report in to that new supervisor guy."

"Oh yeah. I heard he's insane."

"Che, everyone in the Order is insane, in case you hadn't noticed."

"Yeah, but not in the murderous rampage way, people meant the sickeningly cheerful, destructive way."

"We're being infested."

Mai nodded agreement, sighing. "I also heard he has a little sister, and is absolutely obsessed with her."

"He is." Daysia, approaching, made a face. "I just ran up there to meet him. That guy is fucked up. And not in the way we are."

"Overly cheerful and talks in a high-pitched voice?"

"Yep."

"Dammit." Kanda groaned.


	12. The Director

**Text plain = English**

**Text underline = Japanese**

**:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:**

"You were right Kanda! It's infestation! As if Daysia, Shishou, that Cross guy, Jerry, Denlin, and that Bookman's apprentice from last month we ran into isn't enough, now we have to deal with having one as a director!" Mai huffed.

"Don't forget you." Kanda insulted.

"Nah, I'm just cheerful, not creepily so. I can be dark just as easily as I can be happy."

"Like when?" Kanda challenged.

"Well, there was that time with the elevator and the garden shears we found…"

"Che. Once."

"And all those times during training…"

Silence.

"And just recently, I couldn't stop laughing when that Bookman's hammer fell on him and he wouldn't stop screaming…"

Kanda's mouth twitched slightly in his version of a smile at the memory.

"And… oh yeah! That time last year with that orphanage!"

"Those poor kids." Daysia snickered. "They thought you were going to go stab-happy on them for the entire visit, no matter how the rest of us tried to convince them."

Mai giggled. "It was just a pillow! A pillow is not something for them to freak out about on that level! And I didn't even stab the pillow, just fell on it!"

"But the blood looked really real! And I don't know how you did it, but even the room smelled like blood. And I would know about blood, given, well, us. How does orange juice and waffle mix translate to blood?"

"Moving on! Last, but not least, off the top of my head anyway… there were all those times when I went behind your back, Kanda. I mean, just how did you think I got that blackmail about that once back in the Asia brach with Alma and that pineapple-"

Kanda yelped, and darted forward to cover her mouth with his hand. "Not. A. Word." He spat. "Or I'll cut you into tiny pieces and hang you for the crows!"

"What? Pineapple?" Daysia demanded, pushing Kanda out of the way to shake Mai's shoulders. "Kanda and Alma did what with it?"

"Sorry." Mai giggled, eyes sparkling with mischief. "If I tell you, I'll loose my best bit of blackmail!"

"_Experimentation?_ Was it something dirty? Did he finally go though puberty? Holy shit, you guys should-"

Kanda choked at the questioning first word.

"Nope, not that. And I don't think so, poor thing. No hormones for us to torture him with yet." Mai responded. Daysia visibly pouted.

The sound of metal slowly, threateningly sliding out of its sheathe.

Daysia ran without looking.

Mai caught Kanda's arm as he darted after Daysia. "Ah, ah Kanda! We have to go meet this new director!"

Kanda scowled darkly, a glare even worse than Naru's had been. While Naru's could freeze a pitcher of water, Kanda's could freeze the OCEAN. Partly because he really would cut you if you pissed him off enough, so he actually backed it up.

"Che." He growled, sheathing Mugen, and stalked off darkly in the direction of the stairs.

"~~OHAYOUUU_UUUU~~"_ A voice wailed as the doors swung open. "You must be Mai and Yuu! I'm Komui, the new director! ~Pleased to me youuuuuu!~"

Kanda and Mai paled, their ears ringing. "S-So many exclamation points…" Mai gasped in Japanese.

"Holy fuck, this guy is the newby? We're so screwed." He murmured back.

Mai cleared her throat, steeping forward and to the side a bit as if to shield Kanda from the waves of bright pink the man emanated, more for Komui's safety than Kanda's. "Er, yes. But um… it's Tani and Kanda."

"RIGHTOOOOO! Well, I already got a report from Daysia and Tiedoll! But would you like to stay for crumpets?"

"Crumpets? What the fuck is this guy on?" Kanda growled.

"Er, no, we've been stuck on a train for like a week now, so we were going to go spar."

"OH! I'm so sorry to keep you! Of course, of course, go on! ~Have fuu_uuu_u~un!~~"

They left as quickly as they could. One thing that had changed, and had actually begun changing years ago around Naru and Lin, was her balanced appreciation for noise and quiet. Thus, she was nearly as horrified as Kanda at the prospect of this new director.

The instant they shut the door, Mai leaned on it, and they began talking in Japanese again.

"My God, that was… horrifying… we've gotta work for a guy who acts younger than us? That's messed up."

"No fuck. The waves of happiness made me queasy." Kanda groaned.

"I swear I head birds chirping."

"H-he-llo?" An accented voice stuttered. They looked up to see a timid girl standing in front of them, wearing an Exorcist uniform. "Hi. I am Lenalee. I remember you. I saw you in the doorway twice."

"Who…" Kanda murmured to Mai.

"Um… Oh! Right. She's that girl they were keeping in the permanent cell." She whispered back.

"Che. That one."

"Hello, Lenalee. I'm Mai Taniyama, and this is Yuu Kanda. He doesn't talk much. Don't call him by his first name, it's really a bad idea, and you can just call me Tani."

"Oh! Alright!" She chirped, and Kanda winced, his patience-for-people-of-the-light meter already overtaxed.

"You're wearing the uniform. Does that mean they finally let you out?" Mai asked.

"Yes! Komui is my brother! He came to get me out." She glowed.

"Congrats!" Mai smiled at her.

"Che." Kanda stalked off towards the staircase, heading for the Dojo.

Mai waved to Lenalee, and jogged after him, waving to the girl. "So?"

"Weak. A half-month before she breaks, tops, since she'll get all the easy missions."

Mai nodded. "Poor girl. She's gotta be really weak from the captivity, after all."

"Dead in a month."

Mai sighed sadly. "If they gave her time to train for a year, maybe she could survived. It seems like she could be fun, and we really need another girl around here."

"Will you help her?"

"Maybe a little, at first. It's not her fault she was chained, after all."

"Bastard Hitler reincarnation." Kanda growled.


	13. The Acceptance

:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:

Ages  
Mai - 7  
Kanda - 9  
Daysia - Just turned 11

:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:

Kanda tossed open the dojo doors so Mai could catch it and slip in after him, letting it fall shut behind her. Daysia was waiting. He glanced at the door as it shut, scanning the room to re-confirm no one was inside.

"We need to talk." He hissed lowly.

Mai turned, flipping out one of her Sai, and activated it, freezing the door shut and sealing and spaces to keep out prying ears, then darted back to the corner to lean against the wall, speaking in low tones.

"Alright, sealed tight. I haven't heard anything worthy of this level of security from Reever or Oriana, though. So, what couldn't be said in front of Marshal Denlin? " Mai asked curiously.

"It was a direct order from that bastard Hitler reincarnation. Ultra top secret, only the Marshals were to know about it, and a special team of scientists from the Asia branch."

Kanda was suddenly alert. "Are they re-starting the project?" He hissed.

"No, but they started a new one, apparently." Daysia replied in a firm voice. "I just heard from my network, and slipped into the sector they mentioned. I saw the preparations. They're beginning experiments to force synchronization with non-accommodators!"

Mai gasped. "But that's… that's torture! The church approved that?"

"The bastard Hitler reincarnation did."

"Damn him! Didn't he learn his lesson from me and Alma?" Kanda spat.

"Does the new director know about it yet?"

"Nah, that guy only joined the Order to help his sister. They don't trust him."

"Well then why aren't they doing the experiments in the Asia branch? Why the European branch?"

"Maybe because Chan feels bad for what happened with the Secondaries?" Daysia ended with a question, glancing at Kanda. "They might think you diverted his loyalties."

"Che."

"Yeah, you're right. They wouldn't care about that." Mai translated his answer contemplatively. She tipped her head to the side, and sighed. "You know? It's times like these I miss Naru. He was useful." She murmured. "Question everything…. That's how to be smart…. Wait, why Leverrier? After his screw up a few years ago with the Secondary project, they probably would have disposed of him."

"You're right. He's not one of us lambs. Semi-disposable, along with knowing a whole shit ton of the Church's sins." Kanda reminded them.

"The Heart project, I bet. He was the only one to get a lead on a child possessing it. After all, that's why they started the Secondary project in the first place. He probably argued that he didn't suggest it, so they let him do it his way. Forcing the Innocence in rather than finding it." Mai rationalized.

Daysia nodded. "Yeah, probably."

"Che."

"Anything else?"

"Yeah, remember that Bookman brat from last month that we ran into?"

Mai groaned. "Yeah, that Deke guy."

"So, turns out the older Bookman used to be on the side of the Noah Clan."

"WhaaaAAAAAAT!" Mai shrieked. "And Tiedoll-Shishou trusted him with the Innocence?"

"Well, they are Bookmen after all. Apparently they've finished with the Noah side and in a few years they'll be join us in the Black Order."

"That overly happy rabbit? Here? Fuck."

"Seconded." Mai sighed.

"Eh, he wasn't so bad. I bet he grows on you two killjoys."

Kanda scoffed, and Mai just rolled her eyes. "I doubt it. He called me a slut. For God's sake, my body is that of a nine-year-olds, and you two are only eleven and twelve! He seriously thought you were my harem, the messed up little twerp! I haven't even gone through puberty the second time yet! For fuck's sake!"

"Okay, so maybe not… but still, remember how boring that trip was before he showed up? At least he was entertaining."

Mai grudgingly agreed, and then stared at Kanda, wondering if he understood what being in a harem actually meant, seeing as he wasn't pissed off on his own behalf for mentioning it. There was a lot of stuff he was clueless about sometimes, seeing as he hadn't had as much time to learn about the world as she had given she unlike him could actually remember her past life, and Daysia was the only one of them close to going through puberty.

"…What."

"Nothing. You'll have to of experienced adulthood to get it."

Kanda glared. Daysia snickered. "It'll be any day now. I for one can't wait... Hey Tani, we're still on for Plan Queen being the first we put into action, right?"

Mai smiled sadistically. "Damn straight."

Daysia snickered. "Literally…"

Kanda glared deeper, and scoffed again.

"Anyway, you should probably melt the door, I hear someone coming."

"Oh! right." Mai straightened, and streaked over to the door, tapping it with her Sai to draw her energy back in. The door warmed, spaces opening where frame meet panel that she had blocked off to fend off any eavesdroppers. You could never be too careful here in HQ.

Suddenly, Mai stilled. Then, she reached over to Daysia. "I got an idea to improve Plan Queen!" She gasped.

Daysia's eyes went wide. "Improve? Impossible."

"Well, remember that one we got stuck sharing that one room with that one, uh, frilly bed-ish couch-from-hell thing?"

"The one Kanda chopped up into itty bitty pieces?"

"Yeah. That."

"What." Kanda demanded. "What are you talking about."

Daysia and Mai shared a sadistic smile. "Nothing." They chorused innocently. A worried look entered Kanda's eyes.

The door opened, and Marie slipped into the dojo, heading to the far opposite wall to work with the equipment.

"Well, for the first day, it should maybe be someone similar to that Deke guy."

"The rabbit guy?"

"Yup. We can tell the concierge Kanda's in denial and the Dekealike is…"

Daysia burst out laughing. "Naw, that might mess with the other part. We should hold off on that one until the Bookman joins us. And then replace him with you."

Mai cackled.

"Just wait until you two go through puberty. You two are totally going to loose your virginity to each other."

"Oh, I'm not a virgin." Mai admitted bluntly. Kanda and Daysia choked. "I'm not sure if it was reversed with my age, but I dated this one guy about three, four years ago, back when I was still sixteen. Got drunk for the first time, by accident, because neither of us knew it was alcohol. I don't remember it."

Daysia laughed at Kanda's expression. "Holy crap. Wait, what if he doesn't get hormones until the proper _mental_ age?" Daysia asked, eyes widening with horror.

Kanda snarled and attempted to eviscerate Daysia.

"Eh, I guess we're finally starting sparring then." Mai stated, and straightened from leaning against the wall, following them into the center of the dojo.

Marie took a moment to web out some wires for us to practice with, attaching them to a hook so they would stay. Kanda used the advantage instantly, while Daysia yelped, slipping as Mai iced the floor.

Balancing easily on one thin wire and walking casually and threateningly towards Daysia, Mai was willing to bet Lenalee wasn't getting the best impression of them, when she burst into the hall, paled as she saw them, and slipped all in rapid succession.

Lenalee struggled to her knees, and stilled when she met Mai's eyes.

Mai blinked, and smiled, then burst out laughing. "You should see your face, Lenalee!" She giggled, walking easily over to her across the ice. Lenalee watched her uncertainly, and the activity of the three males in the hall stilled as they waited for the verdict - Mai had always been the best of him at reading people due to their instincts, so they usually just left it to her on who they would trust as a whole group.

Mai extended a hand to help her up. After a moment's hesitation, Lenalee reached carefully out and grasped Mai's hand in hers.

"Che." Kanda growled, while Daysia cheered and whistled. Marie clapped.

Lenalee blinked blankly. "What?"

"Mai offered you her hand. You're one of us now, baby!" He explained cheerfully, walking over to sling one arm around Lenalee, who blushed crimson.

"Welcome, Miss Lenalee!" Marie called from across the dojo.


	14. The Normalcy

:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:

**Never let go… ever. It's a lesson we learned well. Until we're so strong that they can't tear us apart, never, _ever_ let go... Not that it ever helped back then.**

Ages  
Mai - 9  
Kanda - 11  
Daysia - 12

:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:

"Tani, raise your arm a bit, Daysia, you need to chamber your kick a bit more! Kanda, good form, but make sure you're observing the lines above you as well as below! Lenalee, put more strength into your kicks, put Daysia on defensive!" Tiedoll instructed. "Marie, you need to tighten the tenth string to compensate for any leverage drag on the fourth from if Daysia's bell hits it, else there won't be enough tension for them to retain their balance!"

Marie called out an affirmative, closing blind blue eyes to better concentrate on the vibration signals he was receiving through the wires, Daysia pulling his foot back a bit more and purposely taking a shot a the fourth line with a yell of effort, while Mai silently corrected her stance, meeting Kanda's downward strike with a parry, and they both froze for a moment as they regained their center of gravity on the thin balance beam. They had only begun the balance training so that they could fight in parody with Marie's wires a few months ago, and still often lost their footing, especially when concentrating more on putting force behind their strikes and stance than acrobatics.

Kanda pulled back and ducked low, and Mai parried again, sliding the blade up along her Sai and between the prongs, twisting to toss it aside. Kanda pressed forward regardless before she could bring forward her other arm to land a hit, hitting her side with a open-palm strike that sent her falling off the beam. Hitting the mat, she immediately kicked up into a crouch, and leapt straight up at the high beam, using the momentum to swing forward and up onto it, then re-drew her Sai.

"Good, Tani! Keep trying!"

Mai flipped her right Sai into a reverse grip, and went for a cross strike from the side. Kanda met the strike with the flat of his sword, one hand on the blade to even out the pressure of his grip. Mai flashed upwards with the other Sai, and Kanda ducked backwards before throwing off the other Sai and attempting to take out her footing with a spin sweep. Mai jumped, and Kanda used the time to regain his front stance.

Daysia suddenly shrieked, and they both looked over to see him take his bell to the face at high speed, the bell itself having glanced off one of Marie's wires from a misfired kick.

"Owwwww." Daysia groaned, rubbing the side of his face where the bell's pattern was imprinted.

Tiedoll sighed and called break, walking over to Daysia and hauling the boy to his feet. Marie withdrew his wires.

"Go get dinner, you all." He dismissed, making shooing motions with his hands. "You did good today."

Mai and Kanda walked over to the side benches of the training room to get the sheathes to their weapons. They couldn't exactly wear them in battle yet - Mugen was only a little over half a foot shorter than Kanda, after all, and Mai hadn't exactly grown into her Sai yet either. They had based the measurements on ones that she remembered from when she was older, after all. Thus, the Sai were 15 inches, suited to fit her 16 year old self who was pretty much full grown rather than her eight year old self. When in her hip holster, the Sai's points reached her knees. So, as to not be hindered in battle, they always left the sheathes behind.

Mai veered off to the women's changing room, quickly stripping herself of the training gear and snatching the soap, tense at being without her teammates. The door banged shut as Lenalee left, and she startled, finished washing her uniform with hurried movements, dressed, put the Dobak up to dry on the hanger in her locker, and rushed from the room.

It was never a good idea to be alone in HQ, not with the visits they tended to get. That's why she hated being apart from Kanda and Daysia so much, as well as Lenalee if Komui was away, more vehemently that _anything_ ever before in her life. It scared her.

She opened the door and trotted over to where Daysia and Kanda waited, reaching forward to twine her hands with theirs, relaxing again as Daysia began dragging his two teammates toward the cafeteria.

"Mou, mou, Tani! We should make Komui let us get a cat!"

"Huh? Why?"

"Because, I keep telling people Kanda is like a cat, and I wanna get one to prove it because the new finders don't believe me when I say Kanda's as bad tempered as one, just because he's only ten. My mom was allergic, but dad said when she died we could get one. But now that I'm not with them, I should be able to get one, donchya think, Mai, Yuu?"

"I _think_ you're an _idiot_, fruitcake. And _Don't._ Call. Me. That!" Kanda growled under his breath, glaring fiercely, while Mai tried not to laugh about what he said about his parents. This was exactly why she loved kids. Though she herself had a child's mentality due to her body's age, she could still remember what it was like to _feel_ like an adult. Thus part of the reason Daysia, Kanda and Lenalee held a special place in her heart - they reminded her of what it was like to not have responsibility weighing on her shoulders, though in truth she had more than ever, as an Exorcist.

Daysia huffed. "Yeah? Well I bet I know things that would make you seem like an idiot too… Like earlier, I don't think you'd know what they were talking about! Tani, I wanted to ask you what they meant!"

Mai tipped her head in question.

"I heard some of the scientists laughing, and I was passing by, so I overheard. One was saying, 'What comes after 69?' and I know that 70 comes after 69, but one of the other scientists said mouthwash and everybody laughed."

Mai choked, and then cracked up. He just sounded so... innocent!

"See! You're laughing too! What did they mean?!"

Mai leaned in to whisper in his ear.

Daysia want red and made a sound like a dog eating sticky honey, before going quiet for a full six seconds. "… Oh." He managed at last.

Kanda stared at me.

"Sorry, only pre-teens and above can know. Soon, but you're not old enough yet."

"Che." Kanda frowned and looked away.

Lenalee rounded the corner looking like she was being chased by the hounds of Hell.

"LEVERRIER!" She screeched.


	15. The Chains

Her fellow child exorcists snapped into action immediately, Daysia snatching their hands, linking them all together.

"Has… scientists with! Brother already… tried…" She gasped.

Mai sprang forward, dragging the others at first, running to the left down the nearest corridor, heading for the 9th floor library. Usually they went to Komui, who fended them off with words - but truly, he was powerless to stop Leverrier.

They had made the mistake a couple of times, of not finding a place to hide, and let themselves be herded away down into the storage rooms. The small, stuffy, underground storage rooms. They had learned quickly not to let that happen.

Leverrier, alone, was only a problem in that he was an asshole with power. But when he brought the scientists, it was worse. Usually they wanted Kanda. Sometimes Lenalee. Even though she was a normal human, Leverrier thought that because he once caged her, he had the right to own her. She was scared of those chains more than anything else. Mai always did her best to protect her from that, but it usually wasn't enough.

Kanda slammed the doors shut behind them, never once letting his tight grip on Mai's hand loosen. Daysia locked it, and pulled the others over to the back wall, except for Kanda who let go to leap up on top of the bookcases so he could see out the window over the door, keeping lookout.

Mai wrapped her arms around Lenalee, who was shaking, and sang softly to comfort her, while Daysia glared fiercely at the door.

All they could do was wait now.

:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:

Mai could remember what Lenalee was like right after she was freed. She would jump at the smallest sound of metal on metal, was always flinching if she spotted a scientists uniform out of the corner of her eye. She was so afraid. At first, Mai had believed her weak for it. Maybe a bit of Kanda's cynicism had rubbed off on her. She could understand it, of course, but Lenalee was an exorcist, new though she may have been.

But then, instead of keeping her chained, the scientists had come and taken her whenever they pleased. She was wasn't bound by those chains anymore, but she was just as much trapped here in the Order as before. It saddened Mai each time she saw Lenalee returning from a mission. This was her _home,_ and she hated that anyone would see it as evil. And it was all Leverriers doing. He thought of them as less than human, his little sheep, followers under his total control.

Once Lenalee was free of the chains, he would suddenly show up, his personal team of scientists with him, and drag her off for a while to do tests and experiments. He started taking Kanda too, seeing her best friend as even less human than herself and Daysia, and therefore without the rights a human _should_ have. His tests were crueler, the punishments for disobedience harsher. Lenalee hated herself for it.

That was how Mai learned to respect her. When it came to her friends, that glint of fear dimmed, replaced by a burning ferocity to protect, though it never really left. It was the same with Kanda. The blank look that saw the world with coldness would leave, replaced by determination. If it wasn't for how hard they both fought each time the scientists came, keeping their hands as full as possible, she was sure that Daysia or herself would have been dragged in for experimentation far more often. As it was, after dealing with an enraged Kanda and Lenalee, the scientists were too tired both mentally and physically to even try dealing with it. Both always did their damnedest to protect the others, no matter how much they would be hurt for it. Mai and Daysia did their best to return the favor, but their attempts were rarely successful.

So long as they kept their grip on each other and did not obviously resist the scientists, they were safe. None of them would be taken. But if they were pulled apart, then whoever was taken was in for a world of hurt. So long as they stayed together, they were okay.

The library was silent except for Lenalee's sniffling. Mai held her, gently singing Journey under her breath, while Daysia babbled on about idiotic things, trying to distract her. Both of them had their hands tightly entwined with Lenalee's. Kanda paced back and forth from on top of the high book cases, agitated, trying to keep a constant eye out for people approaching the place from either side. She could have sworn his glare would melt the glass windows that allowed him to see out, and the pure energy that defined his special Innocence abilities snapped over Mugen's sheathe in the form of tiny sparks of electricity. Mai's Innocence wanted to activate too, though the effect was less noticeable, instead spreading a chill though the room that centered from the metal weapons.

"Who… do you think they want today?" Lenalee asked, looking up towards Kanda.

If there was one thing Kanda could be counted on when asked a question - if he chose to answer, that is - it was that he would be honest. "Probably both. What with how high everyone's sync rate reached on this latest mission…"

"Damn them… don't they know enough about us yet?" Daysia growled.

Lenalee flinched.

Kanda darted down from the bookshelves, returning to his previous place. Daysia took the hint and pulling the other two to their feet, and stepped in front of them all protectively.

The lock to the door cracked off as weight was thrown against it, and the four knew today was not going to be one of the nicer days from the glares the adults gave them in reprimand.


	16. The Endured

Leverrier was with them. Sometimes he wasn't. But this time he was. A such, they waited. None could directly protest Leverrier. If they did, all four would be punished, and none were willing to risk that. They had to make it so the scientists made first contact. The punishment for disobedience was more than any of the Child Exorcists were willing to risk in taking action, not when it would hurt the other three so, regardless that all were willing to bear it if it meant even a small victory.

_"You would dare use your Innocence against me, little lamb? I am human. Are you turning traitor?"_ Leverrier had said once.

Attacking a human with Innocence meant to protect them. The punishment for treachery was death.

_"You would dare speak so disrespectfully? I am your superior. You are the lambs meant to assist me..."_

That took away the option of showing their hate with words. They had to be polite.

_"You would dare try to escape by fleeing? Is that what you would do in battle as well, young lamb?"_

Abandon the comrades in the field, where they worked, hoping for the Exorcists to save them, willing to give their lives just to gather information…

_"You would dare attempt to destroy my work? Did you think that if I was distracted with recreating the records, that I would stop visiting you, my lambs?"_

He brought them more often after that.

"Ah, so you were in the Library all this time? Studying perhaps? Very good." Leverrier sweet-talked in his usual polite tone.

Daysia's answer was almost casual, with a sugary tone to match. "Yes Sir. Ah, you must be here for a check-up, yes? Well, actually Sir we just got back from a mission early this morning, after three whole weeks away! We were off training in the forest. We're behind on our studies because of it, so we don't have time for a check-up today, Sir. We have a lot of catching up to do!"

"Ah, of course! However I'm afraid that it's necessary today, little lamb. No excuses."

"But Sir! We're getting so much better with our techniques, sitting on a table all day might throw us off our game! And we've been improving so quickly! It would be a shame to break our winning streak, don't you think?"

Leverrier sighed patiently. The tap of his shoes echoed in the Library as he walked slowly closer until he was right in front of them, the four youngers unconsciously pressed closer together. "Indeed little Lamb it would! However, you've been working so hard, don't you think a rest would do you well?"

Kanda managed to stop himself from something so obvious as rolling his eyes, but couldn't quite help the quiet scoff.

Leverrier reached forward. Kanda leaned away from his hand, but as they were pressed to the bookshelf there wasn't exactly far to go, and Mai noticed his hand tighten its grip to painful levels as Leverrier's hand made contact, the force of Kanda's disgust shining in his eyes as Leverrier tipped his head back slightly so Kanda met his eyes, and then bitch slapped him so hard the force threw Kanda back and sideways against the shelves.

"Now, now little lamb! You may be a Secondary, but you are still young! Young ones need their rest! You must look after yourselves! Come along, let's see if you've been doing okay." Leverrier scolded, in the tone a worried parent would use, his hand finally leaving Kanda's face to grip his shoulder. Mai flinched when she saw his nails biting into Kanda's skin in warning.

"No thank you." Kanda denied bluntly. Leverrier's eyes narrowed. The Scientists behind him began to move forward, their arms spread slightly, non-obviously, like one would when approaching a runaway animal that might bite.

Leverrier tugged Kanda along behind him as he began to walk away, trying to lead him back towards the doors. With each step, Kanda resisted, refusing to let the connection between himself and Mai break, leaning backwards. Daysia leaned forward to take his other hand as his steps brought Kanda out in front of them.

Reaching the end of their arm lengths, Kanda stopped walking. Leverrier tugged a bit on his shoulder. Kanda didn't move. All hell broke loose, as the Scientists moved in to restrain them. They knew the drill.

They fought. Mai felt arms imprison her shoulders, snapping her arms from elbow up flat against her ribs and pulling Kanda off balance. She felt something metal hit her right hand, and heard something in Lenalee's arm crack from the blow, her grip automatically loosening. They were wrenched apart. She heard a few of the Scientists yelp as Kanda threw them off, and they hit bookshelves, but others took their place, trying to drag them apart. Trying to separate them. Her grip on Kanda's hand shifted, nearly torn apart, as one of the Scientists punched him, hard enough to send him reeling sideways. Kanda kicked out before he even regained his balance, taking out the Scientist's knee and giving them enough time to weave their fingers together.

Mai managed to kick back in just the right spot to hit the groin of the man holding her back. He dropped with a strangled choking noise.

"LENALEE!" Daysia screamed.

No. She would get hurt!

Mai lunged, snatching her hand and dragging her back. Lenalee kicked out, her foot caught by a scientist, the other snatched when she kicked to try and free it. Lenalee shrieked as they started dragging her, scrabbling at the wood flooring as she instinctively attempted to dig her nails into the ground. Daysia let go of Kanda, and tackled the man.

A metal nightstick-style Crow weapon sang through the air, hitting him hard in the temple. A boot dug into his stomach, and Daysia was briefly airborne, crashing awkwardly into the bookshelves. He didn't get up.

"Damn brats! Why do you always have to…" She heard the man hiss. Mai recognized the voice to be the scientist Jason. He was one of the ones who thought of the Exorcists as monsters.

Another scientist grabbed her and Kanda's wrists in her hands, arms straining to pull them apart. Kanda twisted in the grasp of the other Scientist trying to drag them apart, and lunged forward, sinking his teeth into the woman's hand, drawing blood. The woman wailed in pain and recoiled.

"Monster!" Another yelled, a cry echoed by several.

Their hands were wrenched apart. Kanda twisted back again, snatching her wrist, and relief flooded Mai for a mere instant, until the one holding the metal pipe hit her hard enough in the side to send stars and then black flooding her vision.


	17. The Broken

It took a few moments upon waking for Mai to orient herself. A mattress. Scent of disinfectant. White. The hospital wing. Kanda and Lenalee taken.

The next course of action was habit, just as resisting them was. Mai slid out of the bed, stumbling until regaining her balance. Her head spun, but she walked forward regardless, swaying. The world straightened after a few steps, settling down to normal after a few more. They hadn't taken off her Exorcist jacket. They hadn't hurt her too bad this time, just bruises, other than the head wound.

Quieting her steps and lifting the hood to her black jacket, Mai faded into the shadows. If she was obvious about leaving, the matron would hear and stop her. If she was well enough to sneak past, then she was okay enough to rest in her room. But there were other things she needed to do first.

The floors were cold. The matron had taken off her shoes, and socks made for summer did little to help. The air smelled like age, as always. It was a comforting scent. Old books, dusty air, and ancient stone.

She reached the stairs, and decided that the jolting motion of simply walking down them might make her dizzy again, so pulled herself up to sit on the banister and slid down instead, leaning forward to carry herself around the curves, then leaned back a bit to stop herself at the floor she wanted.

At least this hall was carpeted. This one, in the basement, led to the labs where the cruelest experiments took place, like the ones to force synchronization, and studying the makeup of Exorcists. Before, the screams of those undergoing Leverrier's whims would ring through the corridor. The forced Synchronization, the attempts at black magic using sacrifices, and initially where they continued Kanda's old routine after they moved his 'Project' here. This was also the area Lenalee had been imprisoned in. However, investigation of the Child Exorcists and remaining Secondary Exorcist were the only Projects right now, so the hall was silent.

The carpet ended. There used to be carpet here, but repeated treatment for bloodstains had simply made them give up on and remove it. Thus, any comfort offered for the ones leaving the lab after the Scientists were gone was taken with it, the cold floors not helping those 'released'.

She saw the two she was here for laying on the ground, and briefly wonder exactly how long she had been unconscious. Testing usually took hours, sometimes even a full day, as the Scientists observed the reactions to whatever they had done.

Hell. That's what was right past that door.

Lenalee's legs didn't look quite right, and the small of antiseptic drifted from bandages on her arms. That was good - often the experiment in question was to see how the Child Exorcists responded and healed under the effects of certain drugs, in which cases the wounds were not tampered with as it could effect the results. The fact that her wounds had been treated meant there would not be a followup the next day. At least, not for her.

What really worried Mai was Kanda. They'd really done it this time, if he hadn't woken up yet. She didn't see a single mark on his body, but he was trembling, and his breathing was harsh. Probably poisons. The needle marks would have already healed, leaving no trace.

Mai reached out and shook him slightly. "Neh… Kanda? Are you okay?"

Lenalee shifted, looking up from the floor where she had been thrown, and brought up a hand do wipe a bit of dirt from her cheek, gift of the floor. "They were… I dunno, but whatever it was totally paralyzed him, and apparently it was enough to take out a T-Rex, because he hasn't gotten up even once yet. They did it in doses, so I think it's taking longer to fight."

Mai nodded, expecting as such, and tried to wake Kanda again. She could only carry one person, after all. "Mou… Kanda? … Yuu, mewosamasu. Daijoubu?"

Lenalee pulled herself up a bit to rest her head on her arms. She couldn't stand quite yet - standard procedure, they made her run until her strength gave out to test her progression. At least they let that count into her training hours. It always took at least a half-day for her legs to get up the strength to do anything after, much less walk all the way to the infirmary.

Mai sighed, and decided the cold wouldn't help Kanda, so pulled him over to her and into her lap for what good it would do, then reached out with one arm to drag Lenalee over as well so that she could use Mai's leg as a pillow. The smooth, worn stone made it easy.

A dark glint alerted Mai to Kanda opening his eyes to stare at her, and he quickly scanned the hall, relaxing ever so slightly at seeing her and Lenalee safe, with no Scientists present. Mai allowed the tiny smile of relief slip out.

"Daijoubu?" Mai inquired again.

"Hai." Kanda assured, looking skyward as if asking God why people asked ridiculous questions. "I… can't move yet, so…" He admitted.

It wasn't fair. Two years ago, she would never have imagined this. And that she would be living it too. It wasn't fair that Kanda, Lenalee, and Daysia had to be subjected to this, and at so young. None of them were even in the double digits yet… well, Daysia was, by a week, but close enough. It just wasn't fair, and they weren't strong enough to force their freedom from the adults. Not yet.

She hated it, all of it. For someone so strong as Kanda to be unable to do hardly anything at all to protect his Nakama… it just wasn't right…

_:~:~:~:_

_"Oi! So are you gonna sit there crying all day, or are you gonna join us and train? Then you'll be able to protect people like that little girl from the Akuma."_

_"…"_

_"…"_

_"…"_

_"If you don't let go of the past and move forward, then I'm going to ditch you here and tell Tiedoll you died."_

_"…"_

_"Do you want to come with me, or not… Mai?"_

_A hand offered to help her stand…_

_:~:~:~:_

How could someone like that ever have deserved this? It sure as hell wasn't karma, the exorcist Ai had been a good person, or so she heard. But Kanda wasn't Ai, despite their connection and shared vague memories. They had different personalities, different values, different preferences, different souls; they weren't the same at all, but Kanda was chained down by Ai's memories, Ai's fate to be reborn. Pain that Ai's soul should have experienced as the one who lived that life but that Kanda's soul suffered for.

None of it was fair. She hated this world. _Hated_ it, not just for Kanda, but for the all the suffering and death that shouldn't have to leave it's mark. Nakama. Someone you trusted to fight alongside you, the be endlessly loyal no matter the situation, and who you would protect with your life without hesitation; just as they would for you. Kanda and Lenalee, her Nakama, they were hurting, and there wasn't a damn thing she could do, especially not in her current state of being just eight or nine. She couldn't protect them, even as they protected her by struggling as much as they could, to draw attention away from her and Daysia. And yet they always were depressed for days afterwards if they failed in that, which happened two or three times a year, the bear minimum for required checkups on the Child Exorcists. Daysia and Mai could harpy blame their Nakama for it - they endured such far more often, just to protect the others. She wished… she wished she were strong enough to protect _them_ from the Scientists, too. Someday, she would kill those…

"Stop it, Tani."

Mai blinked at Lenalee.

"We're gonna be fine! One of these days, when we're stronger, Jason will try to touch you or something, and we'll kick his ass so hard he'll piss his pants! He won't have seen it coming! They underestimate us. But once they realize, they'll never go near us ever again!" Lenalee assured with grandeur.

"I'll make him into fillet meat for Jerry, and tell him that its special meat for Leverrier's meals. They'll run for the hills and won't come back. We'll be strong enough soon that they won't be able to ever separate us."

Somehow Mai thought that though Kanda's words were just a grandeur as Lenalee's, that it might actually happen.

"Nuh-uh! We won't let em' run. We'll capture them and… and make them throw skittles at police officers saying 'taste the rainbow!' so they get arrested!"

Mai couldn't help it… the image made her giggle.

"Hey! That's something _I_ would do! Don't steal my pranks!" Daysia's voice suddenly whined. Everyone looked over Mai's shoulder to stare at him.

Daysia tried to kneel down next to her and join the group hug, but lost his balance and fell backwards. Obviously, he had a concussion. Mai wondered how he'd snuck out without the matron noticing.

"DAYSIIIIIAAAAA!"

Oh. He _didn't_. That explains it.

The Matron's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Ah, so you're here too, Miss Tani?"

"Er… Yeah… Hullo Matron."


	18. The Drugs

Mai let out a breath of relief as Lenalee sat up, Kanda sleeping peacefully on the bed to her other side. She had been staring at him for the last twenty minutes, as Kanda rarely slept in front of others and usually woke just from feeling someone's presence. He hadn't this time however, and it only increased her nervous tic from sitting around for the past some-odd hours. Daysia, on the other side of Kanda, was still unconscious due to some sleep thing the matron had forced upon him to keep him quiet.

The curtain opened as a nurse walked in to check their vitals, one that was visiting from the Asia branch through a training program. Mai vaguely recognized him from somewhere, but didn't really know where. If he was here on the Exchange program, then probably he had just finished training, as was going on the usual tour of all the bases to find where he fit in. Annoying twerps, those newbys, all high-and-mighty.

The moment the man's eyes set on Kanda, he gasped. "Ai's reincarnation? Here?" He breathed.

"Oi!" Mai growled sharply. He ignored her, rushing to Kanda's bedside.

"Ai?! Ai, wake up, are you alright?!"

Mai got up out of bed, staggered for a moment, then regained her balance and with a sharp kick took the man's knee out.

He fell to the group with a yelp of pain. "What are you doing! Who the hell are you, kid? Did you do this to Ai, ya little twerp?" The man spat at her, going to stand again.

Mai rolled her eyes, and grabbed the collar of his shirt.

"What?! Ai's little reincarnation?" Another voice asked from the hall, opening the curtain. "Where?!"

Mai glared at the woman. "Nowhere. Kanda isn't Ai."

"Of course he is! Just let me wake him up, Ai'll tell you! He would always greet us by ruffling our hair and smiling, back when we were still interns! I bet he'll recognize us, it's only been a few years! So just let me up-" The man began.

Mai jerked him roughly, so she was right in his face, forcing his gaze to meet hers. The strength training was definitely paying off against this idiotic scientist. "Get this through your head _real_ deep, ignorant bastard. Kanda is _not_ Ai, and I'm damn tired of you transfers always going on about it like this, so don't test me. They are nothing alike at all. Kanda is Kanda, and no one else. When people treat him like Ai, it hurts him, though he would never admit it. If you hurt him, you'll be in the hospital with your skull cracked open, by his hands _or mine_. Got it? Now get the fuck out of our medical ward." She hissed, throwing him down on the floor and drawing one Sai from her side sheathe, which the official nurses here had known better than to take from her, and pointing it at the man.

"I said get out! That is an order, both of you!"

"Like I'm going to be bossed around by a kid!" The woman in the doorway snapped.

"What is it with you people and obsessing over Ai?! Ai's _dead_. Kanda's not him, not his reincarnation, their personalities are total opposites. So leave us the hell alone, or we'll _break_ you."

"_…We?_ Ai would never betray _her!_" The woman snapped.

"You're right, I know that much._ Ai _wouldn't. But Kanda isn't Ai, like I've said. They have different souls, too. He is his own person, and will not be someone else just to satisfy you. Now, I'm going to count down from five. Then, I will attack you in defense of a comrade. If you continue to struggle, I'll break things. Five."

The woman, shocked, took a step back, hesitating to see if she was serious.

"Four."

The man on the floor scrambled to his feet, and backed away a bit, before turning and leaving. The woman glared after him.

"Three. Two. One."

Mai carefully darted forward, the quick motion enough to send her vision blurring despite the caution of it, and she slammed her fist into the woman's jaw, knocking her all the way back into the hall. "Lesson one. Stay away from us. We protect our own from intruders like you."

Mai staggered to get her bearings back, deciding fighting in this condition probably wasn't a good idea. She walked forward regardless, picking the woman up by her hair.

"Lesson two. Never challenge a pissed off Exorcist."

The woman whimpered, then choked as Mai shoved her knee into her stomach. "E-exor-cist? You-re a chi-ld!" She choked around the jaw, which was already bruising. Mai guess it had been briefly dislocated.

"Lesson three. People's bodies are merely vessels so that the souls may meet and bond with each other. Ai is dead. Kanda has his own soul. They are not the same."

Mai flung the woman down the hall as hard as she could, which was pretty far with her trained and enhanced strength, right into a stack of used medical trays on a cart a few rows down. Mai staggered again, taking in the other shocked patients and nurses in a tilted-vision glance.

"What happened Tani?" The matron gasped, catching and steadying her.

"Keep them away from us." Mai growled. "If they come near us again unaccompanied, I'll hurt them worse. I warned them plenty, and they refused to leave."

"Yes Ma'am. I understand." Matron agreed quietly. "I won't let them hurt you. You all have enough to deal with, with those… others. You don't need that too."

"Thank you, Matron. I really appreciate that. _We_ do." Mai breathed, trying to straighten her vision, and managed to stand up fully, walking back inside the curtained area.

"Maaaai? Wush crsssshhhh?"

"There was more of those idiots who want Kanda to be Ai." Mai answered, understanding her half-asleep speech though practice.

"Whrrrrrrres Knnnaaa?"

"The bed right there. Either still unconscious, or woken up from the racket I don't know, but I really need to sit down." She sighed, flinging herself back on her bed.

The matron came in the tent, and wordlessly gave Mai a small shot. Mai's vision steadied a bit, and the pounding in her head lightened so she could think straight, though it made her woozy too.

"Thanks Matron." Mai sighed, relaxing slightly.

"Don't stand up again for a while, sweetie."

"Yes Ma'am." Mai echoed her word earlier. The matron smiled, and left.

"Wassat? Kan'shtill sleeeep? Hesslepin. Weeir. He kaaaaay?"

"Yeah, it is pretty weird he's still asleep. I'm sure he's fine, especially since Matron isn't panicking or anything." Mai reassured.

"Khhhhdnn, mah go fooooood." Lenalee slurred, slipping out of bed and stumbling in the direction of the Nurses Station, grabbing Kanda's pillow for some reason as she passed by his bed and dragging it with her, which dragged half his body along with it straight off the bed.

Well, at least it woke him up, if he hadn't through the exchange of vicious words, which was reassuring for the two girls. Kanda flipped Lenalee off before she reached the separation curtain, before pushing himself back up fully on the mattress.

"Good morning."

"Shaddup."

Mai leaned forward off her bed, her arms reaching his bed, body bridging the space between the two, and then pushed off her own mattress so she landed on his. Not her most graceful moment, but now she was where she wanted to be, at the least. Lucky the beds were so close together - she hadn't even needed to stand up, which was good, since she still had a headache. Not strange considering she'd taken a pipe to the head, so she was grateful.

Kanda shoved her over, since she had overbalanced.

"Kandaaa."

"Urusai. Let me sleep." Kanda growled. "My head fucking hurts. Kuso."

"Mine does too baka. I get prevailing consideration because you heal faster, so what I say goes, and I say I wanna say, Ohayou!"

"Do you have a concussion or something?"

"Probably."

"Did they give you happy drugs or something else?"

"Probably."

"They definitely drugged you."

"I sure hope so. If they didn't imma stage a protest, because I totally feel dizzy and my head hurts like a motherfucking train ran over it. Which is kinda true, because trains are just fast moving pieces of metal. So I basically got hit by a mini-train." Mai theorized.

"Che."

"Che." Mai mimicked.

"Wanna rage quit this damned white plaster… uh… place?" Kanda inquired, gesturing to the very white hospital room. "Even if you say no I'm dragging you with me."

"I was gonna say yes, but out of curiosity, how would you intend on dragging me? If I really didn't want to go, I would just yell for the Matron to tattle on you."

"Like this." Kanda informed, and hugged her.

"… Are you high too?"

"Probably. I feel really… sentimental or something."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Yeah, they_ definitely _gave me happy drugs."

"Okay."

They sat there quietly for a few moments, waiting to hear the sound of passing footsteps as the Matron did her rounds to prevent escaping. _He's really warm, _Mai observed. _It feels so comforting. Especially since Kanda hardly ever does something like this. Humans are warm… I feel sleepy…_

"… Thanks Mai."

Mai blinked. "For what?"

"Being here… Knowing me instead of Ai. Aishiteru, Mai."

Mai blinked again in shock.

"… Oh my God, just how much drugs did they give me?" Kanda asked himself, but didn't move.

Mai giggled. Kanda hugged her tighter, resting his head on her shoulder.

"Why're you hugging me though? Not that I'm complaining. Hugging is nice."

"Reever says this is what you're supposed to do to thank a woman. You give them a special hug."

Mai took a moment to comprehend that, and laughed. "Yuu, this isn't what he meant. Though I still like it."

"Eh? Than what do I give you? All I have to give is_ me."_

"Awwww… you're really high. It's adorable."

Kanda blinked at her, tilting his head as much as he could in the embrace.

"You is _plenty_. More than actually… giving yourself to a person is the most special gift you can give, because it can only be given once. So it's all I would ever want from you, even if you were a blood born prince or something that could give me riches and land and make me a princess or whatever. You is all I would _ever_ want. Reever meant it a different way that giving yourself as a person, eh was joking."

"…Oh. What else it there then? I want you to be happy and holy shit I'm drugged."

"You've said that last part before."

"Yeah, but it's still valid and needed to be emphasized."

"This is enough for now. I'm happy, right this very moment." Mai illuminated, leaning against him to show what she meant.

"Alright… Then I'll just stay like this with you. We're so high hiiiiigh… like American Piiiiiie… like a bird in the skyyyyyy… "

"Yes, yes we are. You know, you're really sweet when you're high. And affectionate. And talkative. I think I like it. I'll warn you now that I totally plan to flitch some more of this stuff and spike your tea at a later date."

"Go to Hell. Shuddap and let me hug you, since it's all I can do yet."

"Aren't those kind of… contradictory? And we already knew we were going to hell."

"Heaven for the view, Hell for the company."

"See you there."

"Which one?" Kanda asked, voice muffled as he turned his head into the crook of her neck. In that instant Mai realized that if she had hormones yet, such a thing might be problematic.

"Either."

"You following me?"

"Yeah."

"…Why. Why do you always… I never wanted to care for anyone, because then I would have to loose them, and living through the Lotus curse would start to matter. I thought I was always gonna be alone… I never wanted for anyone to be able to see… me. But you always do."

"You asked me to. Remember? You asked me if I wanted to go with you. And I want to, so I promised I would. The person I promised to go with is Kanda Yuu. No one else, and not the act you show to keep people away. Kanda Yuu."

"Awww… you're really high. It's adorable."

"Yuu-kun is so mean sometimes."

"Shut up, I'm not done being all warm and fuzzy yet."

"Oh, okay." Mai grinned. "Yeah, I am _so_ stealing some more of these drugs for you."


End file.
